“What role should journalists play in society?” An important question that was put in my mind after reading the summary of an online talk show at philosophytalk.org. Dale Jacquette, a guest on the talk show and a Professor of Philosophy at
A dilemma from Melvin Mencher’s book, News Reporting and Writing is that a young woman charged a member of the Kennedy family with rape, and then different news agencies published the woman’s name when it was discovered. Was this in the public’s interest? No, there was no real reason to publish her name. All it did was sacrifice her right to privacy after a reportedly traumatic incident. The moral thing to do would’ve been to ask the woman if they could reveal her identity and if they did not get recorded permission then they shouldn’t have revealed it.
In my opinion journalists are supposed to relay information to the public but without compromising anyone’s rights unless it is significantly for the greater good of someone else, not out of some “obligation” to report to the “public interest."
Mencher, Melvin. "The Morality of Journalism". News Reporting and Writing.
"Ethics in Journalism". Philosophy Talk.
www.philosophytalk.org/pastShows/EthicsinJournalism.html>.
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